[benkoller]

This sounds like a great story, congrats! Having the opportunity to go "all in" on a hobby in this way is enticing for sure. Would you mind telling more about how the opportunity came up to go full-time? Was it being in the right place at the right time, or what type of risk did you step into?

[nlh]

For sure. A bit of luck in several places: I'd been buying and selling casually during my off-hours for the past few years, mostly as a way to keep my brain moving in other areas (some people watched movies in their free time - I bought and sold coins on the internet and went to shows during my vacation time). I'd kinda sorta proven to myself that it could make money, but wasn't sure how much and if it could sustain a full-time income.

Lucky bit #1: My "normal" gig, co-founder at a software startup with some great wonderful friends, needed to cut costs, so my salary there went to $0 :) More time for coins now! (All is very amicable there - they were worried I'd be mad. Quite the opposite).

Lucky bit #2: The rare coin market is super hot right now, so it's easier than it might otherwise be to turn a profit as a relative newbie. That won't last of course, but I'm using this as a chance to learn from the guys who have been doing this for 30+ years how to succeed in all types of environments. It's lucky and I'm grateful that while my training wheels are stil on I can actually sustain a full-time living.

Onward!